Common Core In The Discount Bin

Every community has some kind of deep discount store, the place that is the final stop for merchandise that people just won't buy until it's marked way, way, way down. In my neck of the woods, it's Ollie's (moto: "Good stuff cheap" which--well, you have admire a store that cuts to the chase). Today the CMO (Chief Marital Officer) and I were out shopping, stopped at Ollie's. and here's what we found tucked away on a deep cuts table:

Yup-- a whole table of Common Core goodies.

This particular product came from Carson-Dellarosa, a company that publishes all sorts of useful stuff for teachers. They have a whole bunch of brands, including Disney Learning and Mark Twain Learning. 

At some point, someone in the company in the company decided to green light this product-- a box that included the various Common Core standards, one to a card, those cards including open-ended "essential questions" as well as "I can" statements for math and reading standards. These could be paired with similar sets of "Learning Target" cards, also with essential questions (presumably much like essential oils). Ollie's does not seem to carry the wall-hanging pocket thingy that would let you display all these cards. These products were apparently aimed at teachers

The grade-specific Learning Targets and Essential Questions kits are designed to make lesson preparation easier and to help teachers save time. Each kit includes sturdy two-sided cards. The essential questions are designed to help keep lessons focused and to provide students with a clear understanding of the intended outcome. The learning targets, or I Can statements, serve as assessment tools for both teachers and students. The I Can statements also allow teachers and students to evaluate progress toward learning goals.

Yes, those happy bygone days when Common Core loving amateurs (and other people who should have known better) believed that if you just kept telling students what the standards were, they would achieve them faster. 

You may have noticed that the links above lead to Amazon. That's because Carson-Dellarosa no longer appears to offer these products at all (though they still have Common Core branded worksheets out the wazoo). Each box appears to have originally retailed for $19.99. Amazon offers them from anywhere in the low to mid teens.

But Ollies will let you pick these up for a mere $2.99 per box. Because Ollie's is the last stope before you end up on the scrap heap of history.